Everest trek day two

BRIGANTES EVEREST EXPEDITION DAY 2

Today we had our first view of Everest so we really feel we are on our way. But that came at the end of our day.

Immediately we left Phadking we crossed a suspension bridge – the first of many. Soon we passed through the village of Monjo with its monastery high above the fields and then when we entered the Sagarmatha National Park we’d already done half our day’s walking. A couple of us had to stop with blistered feet – too many new boots not properly ‘walked in’. Soon we were swaying over a very high bridge festooned with prayer flags – perfectly safe but best not to look down to the river. It’s an odd feeling. The bridge sways in the wind and you walk over it as gingerly as possible so as not to make the swaying worse. There’ll be more of these so we’d best get used to them.

The last part of the day’s trek was uphill – a 2,000 foot climb up to Namche Bazaar which took over two hours. We were told not to walk too quickly – fat chance of that! The problem is we’ve already reached a height where altitude sickness can kick in. The path went up in an endless series of switchbacks through the woods. But it was worth it. It was here we saw Everest poking over the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge. There were even some benches where we could rest and admire the view.

Namche Bazaar is a bustling village which has telephone booths and an internet café. It really felt quite civilised. In the evening we dined on Yak steak. It’s a speciality of Namche and was delicious.

Luke N Brightside

Sherpa Dowting (Head Porter) writes:

Today began to sort the men from the boys. Can you imagine going out to buy a pair of boots and then your first serious walk in them is up to Everest! At this rate we’ll need to buy up every pack of Elastoplast in Namche. Some of them were fitter than they look but one or two were blowing badly on that last climb. Tomorrow’s a rest day. They’ll need it!